Experts Say Paula Deen May Lose Celebrity Endorsements

Now that Paula Deen has revealed she used racial epithets and tolerated racist jokes, everyone is wondering: will the Queen of Butter's world come crumbling down? So far, the Food Network has decided not to renew her contract after 11 years on the air. And rumors are swirling around that QVC is next to drop Deen.

In USA Today's feature, "Paula is done," Howard Bragman, vice chairman of Reputation.com, said. "Paula Deen will survive but she will never be whole again." He added, "She will never make as much money, she will never have the respect that she once had, there are people that will never be in business with her again."

According to TMZ, the first in line to drop her from endorsements will be QVC. The gossip site reported, a rep for QVC said that they have "concerns [over] the unfortunate Paula Deen situation." The rep added, "We are closely monitoring these events and we are reviewing our business relationship with Ms. Deen. In the meantime, we have no immediate plans to have her appear on QVC." The network's statement, is not unlike the statement Food Network released prior to dropping the celebrity chef from their own network.

Other experts are speculating that the next week will be a critical one for Deen. Allen Salkin, author of the upcoming book, "From Scratch: Inside the Food Network", told the Los Angeles Times, "If Smithfield Hams makes an announcement that she's no longer their sponsor, then we'll realize this whole thing is crumbling down around her." However, Salkin adds that her dedicated fans are coming to her defense.

Over the weekend, Eater reported a Facebook fan page titled, "We Support Paula" popped up, and as of press time has over 285,000 "Likes." The page includes photos of Deen, with an array of supporters including African American fans. Disappointed viewers also took to Food Network's Facebook page posting comments that included "So good-bye Food Network, I hope you fold like an accordion!" Despite the network's efforts to post photos of delicious recipes, vocal watchers continued to discuss the hot topic on Food Network's Facebook page. One recent fan, Lynda Birts, voiced her distaste saying, "In reference to the decision to fire Paula Deen, I feel was a very bad move. If this be the case you might as well fire every chef on your station, be it black, white, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, orange, green and blue."

Last week, Deen was criticized for not making her scheduled appearance on the Today show, however NBC announced this morning that the celebrity chef will join Matt Lauer for an exclusive interview, live, this Wednesday, June 26. Lauer assured fans Monday, "She has told us she will be here this time."